Session 1: The Importance of the First Days

Picture the classroom you want to walk into on day one. What does it feel like? What do you want students to feel the moment they walk in?

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"Your success during the school year will be determined by what you do on the first days of school."

Harry K. Wong

The first days of school provide an opportunity to lay the ground for everything you want to see during the year ahead. What happens in those first days shapes the tone, the relationships, and the routines that carry you through the rest of the term.

Before We Look at How

What Effective Teachers Have in Common

Before we design your first few days, it's worth naming what effective teachers actually do. Tap each one as you reflect on where you already stand.

Where You Are Right Now

The Four Stages of Teaching

As teachers, we move through different stages depending on our years of experience, our mindset, and our exposure. There's no fixed timeline, and it isn't uncommon to get stuck along the way. Step through all four.

1

Fantasy

Stage 1 of 4

The idealistic stage, full of vision for how teaching will go, not yet tested against the daily reality of a real classroom.

Worth Naming

It isn't uncommon for teachers to get stuck in the survival stage. This workshop is built to help you move deliberately toward mastery, and eventually, impact.

Reflect

Your Current Stage

Which of the four stages feels most true for you right now, and what's one sign that told you that?

What would moving one stage forward actually look like for you this year?

This space is just for you. Nothing here is saved or shared, so write freely.